Manufacturers are returning to Mexico after “experimenting” in the Asia Pacific region. Some of the big reasons for this return are ; to reduce time to market, eliminate the financial costs of inventories in transit, lower the logistics costs, and to strengthen the supply chain by moving closer to just-in-time deliveries.

But moving to Mexico isn’t going to solve all the problems.

A September 2006 article in CFO magazinepoints out how US businesses are increasing safety stocks “just in case”. Delayed in the USAThe article points out how supply chain disruptions are being provoked by an increasingly saturated US highway system and bottlenecks in deepwater ports and railyards.

The good news is that Mexico is close to the USA, a truckload of goods can leave any point in Mexico and arrive at the US destination in as little as 4-5 days. The railyards and new multimodal Interior Port in Guanajuato, Mexico allow manufacturers to establish production facilities in the interior of the country. Exporters can now clear customs and load the sealed container onto the rail-car at the new (2006) high capacity Customs port located in the geographic center of Mexico.

The bad news is that unless the US begins to upgrade their highway, port and rail facilities, supply chain managers in the US will be buying and storing higher levels of inventory to assure continuity of operations, “just in case”.

In any international relationship communication and understanding are critical for success.

Problems created by; language, stereotypes, misinformation, lack of information, and cultural misunderstandings combine with normal business problems to create a complicated scenario for anyone involved in international relationships and global business.

Prepare your international meetings and business presentations using the following questions as a guide to organize your ideas and focus on actions that will produce positive results for everyone involved.

6 Questions – Create Great International Business Trip Results

What does this organization know about me, my company and my country?

What do they think they know about me?

What can I tell them that they do not know?

What do I know about my international partner, culture and country?

What do I think I know about this business, culture and country?

What can they tell me that I do not know?

1. What does this organization know about me and my company. When you walk in the room an opinion has already been formed about you, your organization, and your ability to perform in the future. These ideas are based upon facts, information and past experience.

What has been the history of our relationship in their country?

Who has been involved in our mutual business, and why?

What promises have been made and kept by both?

What promises have been made and not delivered upon?

What have the major problems and success been in the past?

Press and media, our organizations promotional material.

2. What do they think they know about me. Clarifying the unknowns or presumed realities in a relationship is crucial to success. These ideas may be very damaging and limit your ability to trust one another. What stereotypical behaviour can you avoid or prevent? What can you clarify or refute through information or actions?

Behaviour and reacts based upon past experience with your organization.

Rumour and innuendo, press and media reports.

Negotiation styles.

Business objectives.

Behaviour, goals and methods of doing business based upon country and cultural stereotypes.

3. What can I tell them that they do not know. Today’s business world requires trust, information and solutions. Reinforcing your need to work with your international partner, providing important information or solutions, and clarifying misunderstandings can only help the relationship.

Clarify or destroy cultural stereotypes.

Clarify business objectives and why they are important in order to reach these objectives.

Provide solutions and alternatives to existing situations and challenges.

Provide information of value for their business and strategy.

Clearly identify current or potential business problems.

Predict and have answers ready for their questions.

4. What do I know about my International partner, culture and country? What do I know is true and not innuendo or interpretation? The numbers, facts, information, agreements and past performance history of the business. Information about the country and the business culture.

5. What do I think I know about this business, culture and country? What preconceived ideas and stereotypes are you working with? What are you assuming and what has been proven?

6. What can they tell me that I do not know? What questions do you need to ask in order to verify information or create plans. What pieces of your information puzzle are missing? This is the time to get your questions answered, what are they?

Mercenary, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary: “Motivated solely by a desire for monetary or material gain. One who serves or works merely for monetary gain; a hireling.”

Using this definition, and forgetting the military connotations of the word (warrior for hire). The term mercenaries can be used to describe outsourcing suppliers and organizations.

Our outsourcing mercenaries are individuals or organizations that are motivated solely by monetary gain and do not share our organizations philosophies, ideals and interests.

We are hiring mercenaries to manufacture our goods, “do the dirty work”, buy time and help us compete better (and win) against the competition.

Are we weighing the long term risks of this outsourcing strategy?

Beyond the current short term cost benefits, have we identified the long-term strategic and control risks to our organizations by embracing outsourcing?

There are inherent dangers and advantages to using mercenaries. What can history tell us of mercenaries and the long term results of depending upon them?

Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince (a book about the strategy of power and control), wrotethat mercenaries were not loyal, dangerous and even useless: “He who holds his State by means of mercenary troops can never be solidly or securely seated. For such troops are disunited, ambitious, insubordinate, treacherous, insolent among friends, cowardly before foes, and without fear of God or faith with man. Whenever they are attacked defeat follows; so that in peace you are plundered by them, in war by your enemies. And this because they have no tie or motive to keep them in the field beyond their paltry pay.”

The decline of the Roman Empire has been linked to the use and dependence upon mercenaries. The failure to control them, and their infiltration into positions of command and control inside the government.

Mercenaries

Historically tend to overthrow the power or control they do not like.

Adopt strategies to protect themselves from danger and risk.

If talented, will seek to increase their power, and if incompetent will ruin their employer.

Have no loyalty to the employers ideals, goals or objectives.

Are marked by their materialism.

Create their own agendas and goals

Their first priority is to themselves and self preservation.

Using (outsourcing) mercenaries can be positive when:

There is total control and agreement regarding training, quality, standards, and continual improvement.

The competition has access to equal or reduced resources in order to hire mercenaries.

There are clear short term objectives and goals, at which point the contract is finished and/or renegotiated.

There is clear recognition that their intervention is specialized, unique and required to create an advantage for swift campaigns or to solve specific problems.

Mercenaries and outsourcing become a risk or hazard to your organization when:

Mercenaries reach a level of importance and power, where their absence will provoke or contribute directly to your failure.

They understand your entire process or have access to your “secrets”.

When the competition can pay more for their services than you can.

Objectives are not clear, and contracts are not specific.

Quality standards fall, or the organization accepts below standard levels of work or products.

Mercenaries are relied upon to provide long term stability or to reach long term goals for your organization.

You forget that mercenaries respond to power and money, and not on providing quality “soldiering”.

You believe that by hiring mercenaries you have eliminated risk from your operations.

What risk factors and changes occur in our organization when we relinquish control over the entire process by using outsourcing mercenaries?

What happens when our outsourcing “partner” says no or begins to work for the competion?

Are we outsourcing because everyone else is, or are there fundamental long term strategic and economic reasons that support the decision?

Lee Iwan

International Business Development

Sales & Management Executive

Accomplished bilingual and bi-cultural executive with broad based domestic and international experience in business discovery and development; sales, marketing and operations for start-ups, growth and mature organizations.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Serve as independent executive working directly with CEO and Board of Directors. Fully responsible for the visualization, research, creation, communication, follow-through, analysis, planning and implementation of new business development and corporate strategic diversification projects.